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BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:18 pm
by Ken Byng
Brian Cole contacted Gerry Hogan and I recently to let us know that he was playing in concert east of Winchester last night with cellist Emily Burridge. I was doing my regular Saturday afternoon gig with the Ed Nix Band in Netley, Hants, from 3.00pm to 6.30pm but I calculated that I could get to the venue in Twyford by 8.00pm when the doors opened for the concert. After getting my gear packed up and getting past the hordes of fans outside the stage door (joke) I was in my car and off to Twyford. I found the somewhat tiny venue which housed maybe 2 dozen people max, and got a seat in the front row right in front of Brian's keyless Williams S12 guitar.

Brian was playing through a Peavey 112 combo, and Emily through Brian's very old 50's Fender tweed combo. Their repertoire was mainly classical with a smattering of original compositions written by Brian. They started with the standard Cry Me A River, which was a little pitchy from Brian's Williams steel due to the temperature in the room rapidly increasing as a result of the full house. Brian quickly remedied the problem with a re-tune, and his guitar was pretty stable for the rest of the evening.

Brian briefed the audience on the guitar - his tuning, the purpose of the pedals and levers, his rig, and landmark recordings that he has done. There was interest from many in the audience of the pedal steel, and Brian went to great lengths to give his point of view that the instrument is capable of many more genres than country music and jazz. On with the music and we were treated to compositions by composers such as Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Aaron Copeland and Brian himself. I have to admit that not all of the interpretations rang my bell, but the sets were genuinely interesting.

Here is Brian talking to the audience.

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:20 pm
by Ken Byng
Here is an example of one of the numbers that Brian and Emily performed.

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:41 pm
by Haddock
Absolutely fabulous!

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:56 pm
by Uncle Roy
Excellent!

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:06 am
by RonMc
I loved that, the instruments seemed to compliment each other, great post.

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:00 am
by Danny Mitchell
Fantastic :guitar:
A very different kettle of fish indeed ;) Got me wondering about how a composer would score for PSG :shock: Has it been done?
And playing behind the bar :shock: That's a first for me.
Cello and PSG; the perfect match for emotional impact.
With his diverse approach, BJ Cole can certainly be described as catholic, so it's no wonder he's in The Convent, does that make him a nun :?
Great post and review, Ken :guitar:

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:56 pm
by alan cannell
I seem to recall Buddy Emmons once said something like Henry Mancini was the only composer who understood the dynamic range of the Pedal Steel and scored properly for the instrument.

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:03 pm
by Nick Bidmade
Beautiful. Where do I recognise this tune from? Tried a google search but couldn't come up with the answer. Maybe BJ has recorded it before? BTW - great review, Ken.

Re: BJ COLE IN MY BACK YARD!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:11 am
by jonshack
BJ has recorded Indian Willow before on his Lush Life album, I assume it's his composition. The shows he does with Emily are really wonderful.

I'm doing a little interview with BJ in a couple of weeks on my friend's internet radio show, look out for that! Country Hayride https://www.nts.live Sunday 25th Feb at Noon.

Jonathan